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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27060826">Fallen Lantern</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/unluckitty/pseuds/unluckitty'>unluckitty</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>NCT (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Angst, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Ghosts, Graphic Description, Horror, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Murder, Na Jaemin-centric, Other, Psychological Horror, Slasher, Violence, mark and haechan are dead im sorry, possibly, probably</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-20 10:09:26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,842</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27060826</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/unluckitty/pseuds/unluckitty</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Jaemin has some unfinished business much better done dead.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Challenge #2 — tricks; treats; and terrors</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Part One: The Third, Fourth and Fifth</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Please read the tags....you've been warned.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>As far as Jeno was concerned, Renjun could not be the killer. </p><p>“For fuck’s sake, he’d stayed over that night,” his mind wandered whilst aimlessly typing out an email. And neither could Mark- firstly, because he lived on the other side of the country, and secondly because he was dead. Neither could Donghyuck- for the exact same reasons. </p><p> </p><p>“Lunch? I made fried rice,” Chenle came into the room just then, placing a bowl in front of him with a smile. “What’s that? Looks boring,” he leaned over his laptop screen to read the email; “..not...Renjun? I thought Renjun worked in-”</p><p>“Fuck,” Jeno backspaced his last half a sentence. </p><p>“You’re not wrong though,” he sat down opposite him and started to tuck into his own steaming bowl. </p><p>“And how do you know that?” Chenle shrugged. </p><p>“Just a feeling.”</p><p>“Just a-” Jeno slumped back, reluctantly starting to eat his own food. He started to type once more, after taking two bites, but soon found himself backspacing again.</p><p> </p><p>“Hell, it could be someone we don’t even know.”</p><p>“But then why both of...<em> them</em>, in particular?” Chenle immediately replied. </p><p>“Does it look like I know?” Jeno’s spoon clattered onto the table, and he swore the room seemed to shake. A white spot formed in his vision but blinked away a split second later, replaced by a sting from the corner of his eye. His coat fell from its hanging position behind their front door. </p><p>“Does it look like I want to know…” he muttered, shaking his head and looking down, all whilst Chenle continued to eat with an indifferent look. </p><p> </p><p>Winter dawn greeted him the next morning, much too early for Jeno’s liking. He checked his coat pockets: keys, earphones, wallet. These days, a small penknife that he accidentally pocketed from highschool days. He hadn’t used it yet, but also didn’t remember cleaning off the sections that had rusted over the years. </p><p> </p><p>“Any updates?” he poked his head in Chenle’s room. Highschool didn’t feel like it happened, and yet there was living proof that it did, at the moment groggily reading messages until he let out a sigh. </p><p>“Not yet.”</p><p>“God damnit. Not even one?”</p><p>“Not even one,” he rolled over and re-snuggled into the blankets. “We should become the police instead. Ten times more efficient, I tell you.” Jeno hummed in reply and quietly closed the door behind him to let his roommate catch a few more snoozes. </p><p>Sleeping is probably what you’d want to be doing about now, he thought as he shoved his hands in his pockets upon exiting their apartment. He munched down a granola bar in three bites. Sleeping; a chance to remember but also a chance to forget. A chance to not be yourself. </p><p> </p><p>Jeno’s phone gently vibrated with the caller ID flashing “Chenle”, just as he boarded his usual morning bus. And a “Renjun’s dead” wasn’t quite the wakeup call he’d asked for. </p><p>At least, it wasn’t Renjun. Probably.</p><p><br/>
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</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Jaemin’s lungs sting, most of all. His eyes, not as much as he thought, but he doesn’t know which one is better. The water is still, this he knows, but he swears it’s dancing in waves around the edges of his face, his knuckles going white from clutching the sides of the sink. The nerves from his legs prickle and fire at the one, yet overwhelming sensation, of bubbles tickling his cheeks and accompanied by darkness. It’s nearly impossible to swallow the urge to cough; allow his insides to dry off; but something keeps him under the surface. Jaemin nearly dreads their meeting, sealed by the kiss of anew.  </p><p>To be simultaneously floating, and sinking. </p><p><br/>
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</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>So of course it wouldn’t be Renjun, or else Jaemin wouldn’t have been currently slicing a piece of thread through his neck like cake. </p><p>His skin tapered at the edges, not unlike a bite mark, but giving way to pristine flesh. The thread knotted once, twice, dying itself red; not quite the string of fate Renjun was probably expecting. A strangled but beautiful gasp, and the thread simply tightened its grip. It’s a thin line between life and death.</p><p> </p><p>By now, Renjun’s legs had seized up, his fingers turning such a pale white that Jaemin might’ve mistaken him for his own kind. They both went limp. Another small tear in the meat, then a larger one still, leaving small pockets of pink tissue hanging. Jaemin let out a low hum, before slipping out a small, slightly rusty penknife to cut away the more stubborn sections of desperately pulsating muscle. How elegant is the work of the dead.  </p><p> </p><p>Renjun’s eyes had opened for the first minute or so but never looked at anything, and was now entering some grey area, where they occasionally flickered open and almost instantaneously closed. “Renjun, Renjun,” Jaemin gently rubbed his eyelids, before blowing away a stray eyelash from his cheek. Renjun’s hair ran between his fingers like water- so utterly perfect, and silent. Until at last, the flickers stopped. The thread reached its end, and all was still once more. </p><p> </p><p>Jaemin nodded, loosening the thread and pressing a bitter kiss to Renjun’s forehead. Third time’s the charm, after all. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>There was a part of Jaemin that felt oddly sorrowful, sitting on Renjun’s balcony and watching the sun rise. How could a suspect be dead, at the hands of the dead? Though then again, Renjun was probably the best move, presuming he still believed the supernatural shit he loved ever-so fondly back in highschool. No doubt he’d considered it a possibility once he’d heard of Mark and Donghyuck’s deaths. Jisung was the same too, always following Renjun’s lead and indulging in whatever fantasies his mind had come up with that particular day. However unlike Renjun, Jisung himself was a lot purer. Save him for last, Jaemin thought as he tied the bloodied string around his fingers into a neat bow. Untied, re-tied. </p><p> </p><p>Jeno and Chenle had been the opposite; always passing whatever conspiracy theories they’d conjured up as jokes, like they fools they were. In any case, Jeno was probably the smarter of the two, unless this was a test he hadn’t studied for. He would be next, most likely. </p><p><br/>
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</p><p>It had been a week since the news, but it hadn’t gotten easier for Jeno to fall asleep, if he did at all. It wasn’t Renjun, it wasn’t Renjun, he turned over to stare at the wall for the fourth time that minute. A shadow did a dance, and then it was merely a mirror again. </p><p> </p><p>“It’s me, it’s me. What must it be like to live with a killer, Chenle?” </p><p>“He wouldn’t know,” a honeyed voice came from behind him, resonating through his entire being. “Because you’re not the killer, are you?” </p><p>“How the hell would you know that?”</p><p>“Jeno, you’re a good person,” the voice came again, softer, ticklish. A hand extended then, running itself through Jeno’s hair. He exhaled, slowly but steadily. A smile played at the corner of his lips. Relaxed. More like possessed.</p><p> </p><p>“Do tell me, what reasons do you have to kill all three of them? They’re close friends, are they not?” the hand made its way to his cheek and swiftly wiped a single tear away. “Two of them live on the other side of the country, do they not?”</p><p> </p><p>“Betrayal. That's what I would kill them for,” Jeno muttered under his breath. His gaze fixed onto the mirror, but wasn’t focused. A finger stroked his lips, as if to say:</p><p>“Exactly.”</p><p>A snappy death for you, dear Jeno. Time to burn this damn place down.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Part Two: Guardian Angel</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“So then you would’ve rathered…”</p><p>“-Made myself the killer, yes.” Toothpaste foam ran from Jisung’s mouth, as he stood in front of the bathroom mirror with Jaemin resting his head on his shoulder, from behind. He spit out. </p><p>“Why would you have wanted that?” Jaemin asked. He stood up straight now, casting a concerned look at his human. Genuine curiosity laced his voice, masking sharp teeth and a doe-eyed expression. An answer never came, instead merely a heavy sigh and careless re-organisation of hair. </p><p> </p><p>"Do you trust me?" Jaemin linked a finger with him, holding not too tight but not too loose so that Jisung could wiggle free.</p><p>"With my life," Jisung replied, after a short pause. Jaemin smiled.</p><p>"Are you sure?" Another sigh, and a chuckle from Jisung. He gazed up at his ceiling.</p><p>"You killed them all, didn't you?"</p><p>"Perhaps they deserved it," Jaemin shrugged. "Do you trust me?" This time, a longer pause, but eventually Jisung nodded firmly.</p><p>"I knew it from the moment you said yo-," Jisung started, before catching a warning gaze through the mirror. </p><p>"Yes. I do trust you." </p><p>"Good choice." Jaemin pressed a kiss to his earlobe.</p><p> </p><p>"Plug the drain. Turn on the water." Jisung did just as he was told, and let the water overflow just slightly onto his bathroom floor, until it formed a puddle by his feet.</p><p>"Turn it off now," Jaemin muttered. The water stopped. </p><p>"Do you trust me?"</p><p>"Yes," came the reply, this time immediately. His ceiling lights distorted through the basin, though clear as day from Jisung's vision. The tap gave one final drip, and it was added to the puddle. </p><p> </p><p>"Any regrets?" Jisung thought for a second, shifting glances between the basin and the mirror. </p><p>"I guess disappointing my mother so much when I was still in school. I must've caused her a hard time." They had the grace to giggle at that, and Jisung scratched the back of his neck.</p><p>"Anything else?" Jaemin prompted, his voice gentle and almost sing-song. </p><p>"None that I can think of."</p><p>"Okay."</p><p>
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</p><p>An insistent white spot starts to form in Jisung's vision, before it completely blinds him and liquid laps around the edges of his face. Light; lots of it, too much. </p><p>There's silence from all sides, but a small touch to his right shoulder tells him that Jaemin was still there. Controlling, if he had to guess. Not that it's a bad thing.</p><p> </p><p>Jisung's eyes start to sting, more so than his lungs surprisingly. He was never a swimmer type of person, always in general steering clear of water, so this isn't much of a surprise. But still, it's a shock to the system. Combined wills keep his eyes glued open, and hands only loosely holding the sides of the sink. Jaemin's hand is also touching it.</p><p> </p><p>The light comes at last, but it's hard to tell exactly when. All Jisung knows now, is that he's never felt this alive. </p><p>
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</p><p>
  <em> Last evening, the dead body of Park Jisung was found in his apartment in the same position as a previously discovered body of Na Jaemin. Both have been assumed to have committed suicide. This death follows the murder of Park's aquaintances: Lee Mark- died from suffocation, Lee Donghyuck- died from poisoning, Huang Renjun- died from strangling, Lee Jeno- died from neck snap, and Zhong Chenle- died from house fire.  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> It's being speculated that these deaths could furthermore have a supernatural link. However, this is currently unconf- *static*. </em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>:)</p><p>Long story short, I decided to say "fuck it im gonna write something messed up and no one's gonna know what's happening but itll be great lmao" for this one. Not my fault my biggest weakness is evil!Jaemin. </p><p>Thank you for reading!! Kudos and comments much appreciated too lol</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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